Related papers: Towards a Cosmological Dual to Inflation
We present a unified framework that simultaneously addresses the dynamics of early-time cosmic inflation and late-time cosmic acceleration within the context of a single scalar field non-minimally coupled to gravity. By employing an…
We propose a new scenario for early cosmology, where an inflationary de Sitter phase is obtained with a ghost condensate. The transition to radiation dominance is triggered by the ghost itself, without any slow-roll potential. Density…
We study cosmological perturbations in general inflation models with multiple scalar fields and arbitrary kinetic terms, with special emphasis on the multi-field extension of Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflation. We compute the second-order…
In this paper we present a simple argument that shows a non-singular bouncing cosmology naturally yields an era of super-inflation which can precede the phase of normal potential driven inflation. One of the consequences of a…
This article provides an introductory review of inflation and cosmological perturbation theory. I begin by motivating the need for an epoch of inflation during the early stages of the radiation dominated era, and describe how inflation is…
We construct explicit models of classical primordial standard clocks in an alternative to inflation, namely the slowly contracting ekpyrotic scenario. We study the phenomenology of massive spectator fields added to a state-of-the-art…
In bouncing cosmological models, either classical or quantum, the big bang singularity is replaced by a regular bounce. A challenging question in such models is how to keep the shear under control in the contracting phase, as it is…
We propose a 3 + 1 dimensional model of gravity which results in inflation at early times, followed by radiation- and matter-dominated epochs and a subsequent acceleration at late times. Both the inflation and late time acceleration are…
We display some simple cosmological solutions of gravity theories with quadratic Ricci curvature terms added to the Einstein-Hilbert lagrangian which exhibit anisotropic inflation. The Hubble expansion rates are constant and unequal in…
We study cosmological perturbations generated from quantum fluctuations in multi-field inflationary scenarios in generalized Einstein theories, taking both adiabatic and isocurvature modes into account. In the slow-roll approximation,…
Three-forms can give rise to viable cosmological scenarios of inflation and dark energy with potentially observable signatures distinct from standard single scalar field models. In this study, the background dynamics and linear…
We investigate the inflationary universe in a theory where two scalar fields non-minimally coupling to the scalar curvature and an extra $R^2$ term exist and the conformal invariance is broken. In particular, the slow-roll inflation is…
The observational constraints on the primordial power spectrum have tightened considerably with the release of the first year analysis of the WMAP observations, especially when combined with the results from other CMB experiments and galaxy…
In a previous paper we proposed a new approach to the beginning of inflation -- a lingering universe. The universe begins in a lingering state with a nearly vanishing Hubble parameter. This calls into question the absolute age of the…
In multi-field inflation one or more non-adiabatic modes may become light, potentially inducing large levels of isocurvature perturbations in the cosmic microwave background. If in addition these light modes are coupled to the adiabatic…
A mechanism for generating metric perturbations in inflationary models is considered. Long-wavelength inhomogeneities of light scalar fields in a decoupled sector may give rise to superhorizon fluctuations of couplings and masses in the…
We consider an inflationary scenario in the holographic braneworld with a cosmological fluid occupying the 3+1 dimensional brane located at the holographic boundary of an asymptotic ADS$_5$ bulk. The contribution of the boundary conformal…
The linear cosmological perturbation theory of almost homogeneous and isotropic perfect fluid and scalar field universes is reconsidered and formally simplified. Using the existence of a covariant conserved quantity on large perturbation…
A setting constituted by $\mathbb{N}$ 3-form fields, without any direct interaction between them, minimally coupled to gravity, is introduced in this paper as a framework to study the early evolution of the universe. We focus particularly…
The generic prediction for the perturbations generated during slow--roll, single--field inflation, as they appear in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), is a flat, close--to--Gaussian spectrum. We calculate the general solution for a…